MCA seeks withdrawal of Computing Bill

MCA has sent a memorandum of protest against the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s (Mosti) proposed Computing Professionals Bill, calling for it to be withdrawn.

“We cannot support this, and therefore seek the withdrawal of the proposed legislation,” said the Chinese-based party's Young Professional Bureau chief Chua Tee Yong (left).

Speaking to reporters at Mosti's Open Day in Putrajaya after handing the memo to the panel which drafted the bill, Chua, who is also Labis MP, outlined concerns which he said plagued the “ill-conceived” bill.

Chua's concerns include punitive clauses in the proposed bill to punish computer professionals who practise without registering with the Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia; that certification as required for computer practitioners may cause more unemployment instead of solving jobless IT professionals' problems as claimed by proponents of the bill; and the additional financial burden and bureaucracy for computer professionals.

The Labis MP added that if the ministry wants to proceed with the bill, which he thinks has a valid purpose, “it must overhaul the present draft bill and go back to the actual stakeholders such as programmers and other IT professionals, and come up with a consultative bill that will address all issues that are left unaddressed, and taking into account all sides of the equation”.